Just off the Grand

[lovesublime]

Charlotte, I'm really enjoying your review. It sounds as though you're on the younger side of Princesss' cruising demographics. We've only cruised Princess one time and we were by far amongst the youngest on board. We're early forties and DS, early twenties accompanied us. We also found the entertainment to be severely lacking. We went by the 'disco' each evening, only to find it literally empty each and every night. That ship was dead by 8:00pm.

 

BTW, if the DJ refused to play that Nirvana song, the chances of them ever showing Black Swan on MUTS is nil-waaaay too 'hardcore'.

[IECalCruiser]

Charlotte, It looks like these are your first ports on CC. Thanks for sharing your first impressions of a Princess cruise with all of us. :)

[u2cruiser]

Welcome to CC Charlotte Sometimes.

 

I'm enjoying your entertaining revue thanks. You have a great turn of phrase.

Too funny about Nirvana (and I too am a Radiohead fan). I got lucky on the grand as a U2 concert was shown on MUTS on my first evening :D (see my screen name)

 

Your description of the video arcade (dead zone) made me LOL!

 

Looking forward to more :)

[catsdinner]

We just got off the Grand also. That video arcade was indeed a dead zone lol liked that. They have moved the Kids Zone to the front of the ship and I think the video arcade went with it, at least there wasn't much equipment in there and it wasn't open, just a couple machines. The Captain told us at the CC meet that that whole area is where the new Nightclub is going to be and I think they were getting it ready for the refit.

 

We liked the entertainment for the most part. Didn't like Lisa Donnovan or Tony Cherry but other than that it was fine as far as Cruise ship entertainment goes. Loved the new show, The British Invasion.

[u2cruiser]

Welcome to CC Charlotte Sometimes.

 

I'm enjoying your entertaining revue thanks. You have a great turn of phrase.

Too funny about Nirvana (and I too am a Radiohead fan). I got lucky on the grand as a U2 concert was shown on MUTS on my first evening :D (see my screen name)

 

Your description of the video arcade (dead zone) made me LOL!

 

Looking forward to more :)

 

Of course I meant review :eek: No idea where that came from!

[Charlotte sometimes]

Well I'm up now and there is a major blizzard outside so I should be able to write a fair bit today. I'm enjoying reading everyones comments too and If I wasn't being encouraged I wouldn't be writing nearly so much....You people are naughty. I still have major laundry to do and I'm wondering if cornflakes with warm water will do for supper.Getting to the grocery store would be like an Antartic expedition at the moment. Oh for the Horizon court breakfast buffet!

 

The formal nights were on day 2, day 5 and day 12. The most formal was day 2.....It stilll gives me palpitations when I think of it.I did notice, a lot of women dressed what I would consider formal on casual nights, but then women have a lot of clothes to show off.

 

So Curacao came the day after Aruba and we did the Hato Caves and the city tour. I liked Curacao. It was pretty with all the fine architechture and brightly coloured buildings. The caves are out by the airport where I had read that the biggest brothrel in the Carribean is located. They didn't mention that in the patter though.

 

On the bus, on the way to the caves, the guide was telling us about the Colonial history and I was looking out of the window for possible ladies of the night. I saw a few potential candidates.

 

The caves were spectacular, much more impressive than I had imagined. Lots of stalag thingys, cites and mites in strange shapes. There were bats.but they never come close to people so I felt reassured that I wasn't going to get

into a hysterical fight with one.

 

There was a pool in there, a deep black mini lake, The water was so still and when I dropped a tiny stone in there the ripples it made went on forever It was unusual and I could have stood there all day, dropping stones and watching ripples, but the tour must go on and there is no time for zen contemplations.

 

It was hot and humid in the caves and I chugged back a litre and a half of expensive, ships bottled water. I seemed to be the only one on the tour who had bought a drink. I noticed a few envious looks from tour mates who were running with sweat and red in the face. They wouldn't envy my bottled water bill though.

 

The city tour portion was ok, more Colonial buildings than you can shake a stick at. The guide was droning on in the terrific heat and I was dying to get in the interesting looking shops. The floating market, that sounds so oriental and exciting was all fruit and vegetables. Still stuffed with Pineaapple, melon Papaya and oranges from the buffet, I thought frankly my dear, I don't give a Rhett Butler.

 

The city is in two halves and it seems dodgy if you get stuck on the side where the ship isn't, when It's nearly time to board. We got the ferry back to the port side in plenty of time to look around the touristy complex near the ship. There was a reggae artist that was the best part of the visit. He was so good and he sang a Peter Tosh song about legalising something or other and a Rare Bob Marley song.....Dear me, he was good. I gave him money and wished that the ship could employ talent like that.

 

one thing I liked about Aruba and Curacao, was that there was no hassle from vendors. You could walk around without getting a wood carving shoved up your left nostril.

 

Taking a coffee break now, Grenada might be a long review.:)

[nunuc2000]

BWAHAHAHAAAA!!! I'm lovin' it!! Keep it coming, Charlotte... your writing style makes for very entertaining reading!!

[Seal]

Just of the Grand, also

 

We had a table for 6 arranged for ecery night in the anytime dining room--really worked well--we had it for 6:30 pm

 

As for Santo Domingo---we didn't get off the ship--and hadn't planned to--our cabin was an aft cabin on Deck 9--all you needed to do was take a look at the brown water and all the filth in it--garbage and trash--don't know if those folks with a balcony on the side of the ship could see the filth that we saw--spoke to others who went to town and they said that it was also filthy--

 

Nancy:D:D

[nunuc2000]

Just of the Grand, also

 

We had a table for 6 arranged for ecery night in the anytime dining room--really worked well--we had it for 6:30 pm

 

As for Santo Domingo---we didn't get off the ship--and hadn't planned to--our cabin was an aft cabin on Deck 9--all you needed to do was take a look at the brown water and all the filth in it--garbage and trash--don't know if those folks with a balcony on the side of the ship could see the filth that we saw--spoke to others who went to town and they said that it was also filthy--

 

Nancy:D:D

 

Such a shame about that... I know the people in places like this could sure use the tourism dollars, but it's hard to want to get off the ships when the area looks so un-inviting. :(

[Nylsor]

Hi Charlotte - thanks for your wonderfully entertaining review. We are due on the Grand on Feb 14 ( has DH bought a Valentine's card yet I wonder) no he hasn't I've just asked him. Anyway, thanks for making us laugh out loud on this cold, grey afternoon in London. This will be our first trip to the Caribbean and we can't wait. We contacted the tourist office in Curacao and they sent us the details of a walking tour around the town that you can do yourself. We'll need to walk off the extra food. Please write some more - you are very entertaining. Don't know about cornflakes and warm water - a bit yukk!

[u2cruiser]

Many port areas are univiting as they are working ports. If you're brave enough to see beyond it there are lovely areas in most places. Santo Domingo is a lovely, vibrant city and some of the beaches are stunning.

 

St Vincent is probably one of the worst port/town areas in terms of cruise ship passenger needs I have ever seen on my travels; the town is too busy doing what it does everyday to pander to visitors, but a few streets back from the port and a few miles out and it is absolutely beautiful. This is the real Caribbean, not the Caribbean that people dream about. There were lots of people on my last cruise complaining about the volcanic islands and lack of powder white beaches. I don't think they do any research. :(

[nunuc2000]

Many port areas are univiting as they are working ports. If you're brave enough to see beyond it there are lovely areas in most places. Santo Domingo is a lovely, vibrant city and some of the beaches are stunning.

 

St Vincent is probably one of the worst port/town areas in terms of cruise ship passenger needs I have ever seen on my travels; the town is too busy doing what it does everyday to pander to visitors, but a few streets back from the port and a few miles out and it is absolutely beautiful. This is the real Caribbean, not the Caribbean that people dream about. There were lots of people on my last cruise complaining about the volcanic islands and lack of powder white beaches. I don't think they do any research. :(

 

I agree, u2cruiser... in fact, some of the most beautiful spots we visited in South America were indeed just past the working ports. Pretty much ALL of our ports looked "un-inviting" upon approach, but having read up on all there is to see and do in those beautiful areas, it was easy for us to venture beyond the ports and enjoy all they had to offer. :)

 

Unfortunately for the Dominican Republic, they are also affected in a negative way by what happens in Haiti... and that means their tourism will suffer too with the announcements about the possibility of being exposed to cholera. Just when they need the tourism dollars most is when they will actually see less... and that's particularly sad.:(

[hansi]

Great review Charlotte. We were on that cruise too, and I agree with you about the Spa pool. Spent most of our time there, great little pool, lovely position and no loud music!! Thought the food was generally good except for the meat dishes which were a bit tough, but the fillet mignon in the steakhouse was superb, but disappointed with Sabatini's. I see they're having a new menu in there after the refit. about time too!

[daWoods]

Great review Charlotte. We're on the March 14th cruise, so I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the rest of the stops. We've been to many of these islands on past cruises, but St. Vincent, Dominican and Grand Turk are new to us.

 

As for reservations in Anytime Dining, we generally look around for a nice table, and if we like the staff in that area, book it for the rest of the cruise at about 8pm. The head waiter gets to know you and says "your table is ready sir". Love it!

[u2cruiser]

Great review Charlotte. We're on the March 14th cruise, so I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the rest of the stops. We've been to many of these islands on past cruises, but St. Vincent, Dominican and Grand Turk are new to us.

 

As for reservations in Anytime Dining, we generally look around for a nice table, and if we like the staff in that area, book it for the rest of the cruise at about 8pm. The head waiter gets to know you and says "your table is ready sir". Love it!

 

I can highly recommend this place on St. Vincent. It's at Villa beach; not too far away from the port. We walked into town away from all the taxis and tours and picked up a taxi there. We asked him about Villa Beach as we wanted to go across to Young Island, which is a spit away on a 2 minute water taxi. He recommended we go here as it was his relation lol! http://www.paradisesvg.com/home/index.php

 

It didn't cost anything other than taxi ($20), drinks and food. Not 5* by any means. There aren't lots of sun beds but there are a few and comfy chairs, direct access to the beach and facilities to get changed. No pool but very close to the sea. It must be ok as the ship tour called here for rum punch. We had such a lovely day there. Beautiful views across to the island.

 

Looking forward to Grenada Charlotte. I haven't been there yet :)

[Charlotte sometimes]

After Curacao, there was a sea day and people were starting to look like lobsters. The sun was very hot and it was so easy to get burned....Take plenty of sun screen and I would buy some decent moisturiser. The ships stuff didn't seem to do naff all for dry skin. The chlorine in the pools and the strong sun and wind are very drying. In Santo Domingo, which is a few days off yet, I bought some chocolate oil....It was the bomb for dry skin, I couldn't believe the difference it made compared to the ships stuff. I suppose I could have gone to the spa, but I'm a bit cheap. The spa had all kinds of special offers, but I resisted them all. The hot stone massage sounded good, but instead I just laid on a hot part of the deck for free hahaha. There was a teeth whitening offer, but I found if you used dark make up and smiled it worked just the same, the dark skin making your teeth look whiter.

 

Anyway onto Grenada, I loved this Island, it was green, mountainous and tropical. There were so many different plants and flowers and a faint smell of spice. It is a cradle of life. I would definitely like a land vacation here.

 

We chose to go on the hike to the seven sisters waterfall which was advertised as strenuous and you were advised to wear good walking shoes. My husband and I have have walked the Alps in flip flops so we tend to ignore advice about good walking shoes and also, we thought on a Princess cruise how strenuous could it be? We were about to find out.

I knew there was a swim in the falls after the hike and because the water tends to be rocky under water falls I said our crocs would be perfect....ahhhhh the stupidity!

 

We drove a fair way up a high mountain to reach the trail head. It was interesting seeing the local houses on stilts and the always lush vegetation. I liked the guide, he was into plants and he looked and sounded like a real Rasta he was amusing and intelligent. He told us about the plants in his garden and I felt that he probably left a few out.

 

So there we were at the trail head, no really old people thank goodness, they wouldn't have made it. Everyone had nice shiny white sneakers and I think two people had alpine boots there's always a few isn't there that do things by the book? My husband and I had our crocs and we had the first glimmerings of feeling like idiots. There were two guides who both had very sturdy hiking boots. The other guide was about 28, good looking, and super fit, sinewy muscles everywhere no shirt and a six pack to die for.

 

We were given sticks because the guide said there had been a lot of rain and the paths could be slippy...It was the understatement of the year. The walk started off well, a gentle meandering path high on the mountain, sweetly smelling and silent. A gentle warm breeze ruffled our hair, nutmegs and mangos hung on the trees, bananas sprouted out of the ground, the odd chicken crossed the road in front of us, but no one asked it why!

 

After a while, we came to a rise in the path and at the top I looked down into horror, a sea of practically vertical rocks covered with thick red mud. We had to get down there to the falls. Goodbye nice white sneakers, we were soon practically ankle deep in the stuff and the crocs became ice skates. I tried walking in bare feet, but it was even slippier I'm telling you...even the the best super tread michelin tyres would have had trouble. Despite the stick, my husband was soon on his ass and his cream shorts looked disgusting. Two more people dirtied their posteriors and we were all clinging onto those sticks for dear life. It came to a point, where intrepid, do anything me couldn't go on. Then superfit guide came to my rescue. He held onto me for the rest of the way down. I tried not to like it, really I did!!!

 

About 30 minutes later, filthy and bruised, We came upon the falls and it was so beautiful. A clean waterfall literally in the middle of nowhwere. The rushing water was noisy and fast. Hot and dirty, I couldn't wait to dive into the pristine pool at the bottom of the falls. I stripped my dress off, finally felt smug about the now useful crocs and waded in to the sharpest coldest water that I have ever felt. It made you gasp and your toes shrivel. The men might have an alternate description! Oh but, when you had taken the plunge it felt so good, very refreshing. I wished we could have stayed there all day with a picnic, but we had maybe 45 minutes. A spectacular diver, did a backward dive off the top of the falls, a graceful, acrobatic movement which you certainly couldn't have done after a session in the Horizon court, You would have dropped like a stone providing the irrigation system for miles around.

 

Then it was back up the steep, steep, hill in the mud. I kept thinking of world war one and trenches. It was easier going back up as it wasn't as slippy. I was aching in every muscle after that expedition. However, I loved every minute and wouldn't have missed it. There were shoe cleaners at the top of the slope with scrubbing brushes and buckets of clean water. The crocs were Immaculate in no time and the sneakers looked like they still needed 5 cycles in the washing machine and a bottle of bleach.

 

 

Phew, I need a break Barbados next...I have forgotten what we did already. I'll go and think about it.

[Rockymountainsparky]

Thanks so much for your review.

[Cupcrazy]

Great review Charlotte!! I'm enjoying reading your posts. I was on the Grand in November and had a great time. I didn't go to the British Invasion show but I heard it was good from others. I did enjoy the Motor City show. The cruise director himself wasn't great but that was his second last cruise so you had a new one. The cruise directors staff was great. Daniel, Jimmy Lee, Sonia, Andy & Martin were so much fun. I still speak to a couple of them on Facebook now and they are all still on the ship. They really helped us enjoy the cruise even more.

[u2cruiser]

That sounds like just the kind of trip we end up on :D.

Did you look round the town or were you too bedraggled and muddy?

 

Funny about the guide possibly excluding some of his garden plants. ;)

[Charlotte sometimes]

Here we go, I have two more excusions written up. This is hard work.but the fun part is reliving the experience.

 

U2, we were in Grenada on a Sunday so the local shops were closed and there didn't seem to be too much in the town.

The port shops were open with some fairly nice clothing and I bought a spice necklace from a sweet young girl. I knew that I would have to throw it away eventually, as the airport dog would surely sniff it out.She was young and beautiful and something in her eyes, made me buy it when she implored me to. It's a poor island monetary wise so I gave her the $4. It was made of nutmegs, pieces of ginger, cloves and seeds. It smelled lovely and would have probably prevented bubonic plague if you wore it around your neck.I decided that it wouldn't be a suitable Princess accessory considering all the gold and diamond jewellery being worn by many of the passengers. I kept it in a plastic bag in our room and when we were packing I discovered it again covered in mould. I could have kept it out in the room and enjoyed the fragrance, at least while we were on the ship.

 

The next port was Barbados, a beautiful island. It's another place I would like a land vacation. I would imagine that it's very expensive though. It seems to be a playground of the rich. It was clean, prosperous and the port shops were great for clothes.I would have definitely taken less from home and bought as I went, if I knew the clothing would be so nice.

 

We went to a place called Welchmans Gulley and a flower forest, following a bit of a bus tour. Both were beautiful places for nature lovers, with great views of the Atlantic coast.The plants and atmosphere in both places was tropical. The gulley though, had lots of big black centipedes and slugs eating up the decaying vegation. It was an artists delight with contrasts of sun and shade and fantastic patterns of leaf and bark. I could have stayed in the gulley a lot longer. The flower forest was more cultivated, but I could have stayed in there longer too. It had gentle walks amongst gorgeous flowering bushes and trees.

 

We were given a good rum punch after the tour. It was all very enjoyable,but uneventful.

 

One thing I didn't like about the tours was that you had to be back on the ship by 330pm.except in Aruba which we left at 7pm {I think}. The tours go so fast that you can hardly remember them. On other ships, we had much longer in the ports leaving at 5pm or 6pm. Still, I suppose you wouldn't see as many islands then. The Sea Princess was in Barbados and she was still there when we left at 4pm. It was the first other cruise ship we had seen.

 

What I noticed back on the ship was alot of the walking wounded. I suppose, out and about accidents had happened by the bucket load. There were legs and arms, in plaster casts, more people being wheeled about in wheel chairs. That medical center must have been hopping. I should have gone too. On the Grenada tour, I had gotten a stone in my shoe that had been so sharp it had gouged a huge hole in my foot. You could see the muscle tissue on the bottom of my foot, it was painful, very swollen and red. I decided to try ointment, bandaids and tylenol, much to my husbands dismay. He wanted me to go to the doctor. Then the dining room waiters were begging me to go to the doctor. I had to wear flip flops. My foot was too swollen for shoes. What really helped was the salty sea water. After 4 days it was much better.

 

 

St Vincent next.......

[Charlotte sometimes]

St Vincent, was the next port and That was mountainous too, a bit like Grenada. It was raining hard when we pulled into port, brooding, cloudy, skies and foggy looking mountain tops.

 

 

We had booked a catamaran and Island tour with a stop at a beach for swimming or snorkeling, a visit to a waterfall and lunch included. The tour was popular. They sent some people on the bus tour first and some on the Catamaran tour first. We went first on the Catamaran. It was a long sail, all against the long beautiful coast line. It rained intermittently and even before we got to the beach we were soaked. It was warm, so who cares.I think some people did though...moaning about being wet on a catamaran, right.... We saw the locations where the Pirates of the Caribbean movie had been made. I haven't seen the movie so it was hard to be impressed. I just loved the beauty of it all, sailing along watching the ocean and the sea birds, feeling the warm air and warm rain on my skin.

 

We presently stopped at a beach. Most people snorkeled,but I hate snorkeling, it's too claustrophobic and I get sea water in my eyes and up my nose.I stayed on the black volcanic sand and swam in the super warm ocean. People said the snorkeling was good. It was a very quiet bay were we were, surrounded by mountains and fringed with palms. beautiful...

 

When we got back on the catamaran the rum punch came out. It was called sunset rum and it was 90% proof. They were very generous with it. My husband is very quiet and shy, he doesn't drink much and he got hammered. A few more people were more than happy and what started out as fairly inhibited bunch became very sociable and a bit wild.The guide said that when Johnny Depp was staying on the island making the movie, he got so drunk on the sunset rum. he trashed his fancy hotel room and they had to put him on a private yacht for the duration of the movie making. I laughed so hard..I was so drunk that I could perfectly understand why Johnny Depp had done it. I couldn't stop laughing all the way to the shore and the lunch restaurant. Some people just had the fruit juice instead of the rum and I'm sure they thought we were crazy. Most of all I laughed at my drunken husband who couldn't stop talking.

 

The luch was Ok, chicken, salad, a banana cake for desert. It was still raining quite heavy. I sat there dripping wet and laughing. It was such fun. Not everybodys idea of fun I'm sure, but i don't drink much either so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

After lunch we walked to the water fall in the pouring rain. We had gone on a short bus ride up into the mountain and I was dreading a repeat of Grenada, but the walk was on the flat...another beautiful freezing cold waterfall. I stood under it screaming for about 30 seconds. It sobered me up a bit.

 

I'm getting a bit worried here thinking that I don't sound like the typical Princess cruiser. It's more like a Carnival review hahahaha

 

Anyway the land tour came next. There wasn't much to see just winding mountain roads and villages with people going about their lives slowly and happily. There were a lot of dogs and they looked hungry. It made me a bit sad. it was a long way back to the ship and the bus went up and down and round and round. In the town we were stuck in traffic.It was 4pm and we should have been back on the ship at 330pm. On a Princess arranged cruise though, who cares. The ship was waiting ,with a lot of the people watching us straggle back from the promenade deck and their balconies. Another great day over!

 

Next up, St Kitts....might be another long one. I might write it up later tonight or tommorrow.

 

Thanks for reading.:)

[nunuc2000]

I am sooooo loving these posts, Charlotte!! You should join us on our next cruise - you'd be a total blast to travel with!!!:D

[carolmacey]

Charlotte,

I just realized you have only 8 posts. You have been holding out on us regulars. We need a good laugh and your writing is brilliant.

Hope to cruise with you one day.

Carol

[BosoxI]

Hey, Charlotte, tell me that you are really hot, cause if you're heavy or homely, much of what you write loses its allure.:D

[Hilary G.]

I too was on the Grand with you and am enjoying your review. Love your attitude and wish we had met on the cruise. Getting wet on the cat is what it is all about - who cares if it rains when a dip in the ocean in on the agenda anyway?

 

I also noticed a lot of people on the cruise were on the limp in one way or another and the numbers grew as the cruise continued.

 

You could have added to the fun of the roll call. When you book your next cruise be sure to join the roll call and meet your fellow cruisers before you board the ship.